Mechanisms of Strontium and Uranium Removal From Radioactive Waste Simulant Solutions by the Sorbent Monosodium Titanate

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High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW) is the priority problem for the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Environmental Management Program. Current HLW treatment processes at the Savannah River Site (Aiken, SC) include the use of monosodium titanate (MST, similar to NaTi{sub 2}O{sub 5}xH{sub 2}O) to concentrate radioactive strontium (Sr) and actinides. Mechanistic information about radionuclide uptake will provide us with insight about the reliability of MST treatments. We characterized the morphology of MST and the chemistry of sorbed Sr{sup 2+} and uranium [U(VI)] on MST with x-ray based spectroscopic and electron microscopic techniques. Sorbed Sr{sup 2+} exhibited specific adsorption as partially-hydrated species, whereas ...
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Description

High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW) is the priority problem for the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Environmental Management Program. Current HLW treatment processes at the Savannah River Site (Aiken, SC) include the use of monosodium titanate (MST, similar to NaTi{sub 2}O{sub 5}xH{sub 2}O) to concentrate radioactive strontium (Sr) and actinides. Mechanistic information about radionuclide uptake will provide us with insight about the reliability of MST treatments. We characterized the morphology of MST and the chemistry of sorbed Sr{sup 2+} and uranium [U(VI)] on MST with x-ray based spectroscopic and electron microscopic techniques. Sorbed Sr{sup 2+} exhibited specific adsorption as partially-hydrated species, whereas sorbed U exhibited site-specific adsorption as monomeric and dimeric U(VI)-carbonate complexes. These differences in site specificity and mechanism may account for the difficulties associated with predicting MST loading and removal kinetics.